Sunday, November 14, 2010

Sidewalk tourism: heirloom pumpkins again

This post is a sequel to my previous post about the heirloom pumpkin pile (which can be found here).I took a lot of pictures of those pumpkins & squashes... I mean a lot. And then I went back and took some more photos a couple weeks later. And eventually I went back and dropped off some prints of some of the pics I had taken.

Anyway, since I do all of my wandering around in town where there are sidewalks (on which people presumably wander) - well, it's in town. There are a lot of two story houses with fancy architecture and tiny manicured lawns. So, when I saw this pile of pumpkins & squashes one of the things that I wondered was where they came from. There's actually a chain of grocery stores in the area that had been selling heirloom pumpkins and squashes, but those things were like $5.99 a piece (scroll down to the last picture and do the pumpkin math - eek!). That would have been a hell of an expensive decorative seasonal yard display...

As it turns out, the homeowner actually grew them on a friend's farm out in the country (like where I live; where we lack the city amenities such as sidewalks, city water, and street sweepers).

So, there was a lot of effort & care that went into this tremendous display.

Such a wonderful fall display. I love to see all the colorful pumpkins and gourds in the fall, and it's always sad to see them go as winter approaches. I'm enjoying your photos and will 'follow' and visit you again. Thanks for visiting me, and hope you come back soon.

The pear shaped ones almost look like a type of hubbard squash I like the decoration but cook any I purchase. I found one place that had not so perfect ones for a dollar. I cook and run them through a strainer, freeze and enjoy all winter. You can exchange pumpkin, squash and sweet potatoe in any recipe, or i eat as a side dish with a little butter. I did a post in October of fast food making ravioli with squash. Will make some with pumpkin today.I'm suppose to be getting some gourd seeds form TN but haven't seen them for a trade of some prairie seed.